#132_TURN DOUBT INTO BELIEF
von Thomas Galler
Release: Donnerstag, 7. April 2022 von 18 - 21 Uhr
Redaktion
Himmelrichstrasse 4
6003 Luzern
Turn Doubt into Belief brings together all the fragments of a Nike Air Max sneaker disassembled
into its individual parts. Titled Arab Air Max, this was originally part of a serial production
of over twenty pairs of shoes that I had made in 2015 for the exhibition On Remote Control,
Lothringer 13 Halle in Munich. Through the online platform Nike ID (now Nike By You),
various Air Max models were produced through conceptual customizing in the Pan-Arab
colors (Black/White/Mystic Green/Studio Red).
Turn Doubt into Belief comes from my text collection of various appropriated slogans from
legendary Nike advertising campaigns dating back to the seventies. These are often based
on a provocative, socio-political content. Martial and military vocabulary is used, and the
language is imperative: Destroy to Create! Following this maxim, I disassemble the Air Max
into its leather, foam, rubber and textile parts. Opening the threads and loosening the glued
joints becomes a reflection and analysis of the construction and materiality.
„The destructive character knows only one watchword: make room; only one activity: clearing
away. His need for fresh air and open space is stronger than any hatred. The destructive
character is young and cheerful. For destroying rejuvenates in clearing away the traces of our
own age; it cheers because everything cleared away means to the destroyer a complete
reduction, indeed eradication, of his own condition. No vision inspires the destructive character.
He has few, needs, and the least of them is to know what will replace what has been
destroyed.“ (Text excerpt from The Destructive Character, Walter Benjamin, 1931)
Turn Doubt into Belief represents a process of transition and shows the fragments of an Air
Max in ambivalent, sculptural form. But this publication is also the script for an experimental
film set that takes on the cinematic reproduction of the sneaker.
Photographed, edited and designed by Jakob and Thomas Galler.
2022 Jakob Galler, Thomas Galler and _957 Independent Art Magazine